Princess Grace Awards and Monaco Media Forum

On Wednesday night, the red carpet and Princess Grace Awards backdrop were laid out at New York City’s Cipriani restaurant. Doors opened at 6:30 PM for the reception and “silent auction,” which were followed at 7:30 by the awards ceremony, dinner, and “live auction.”

Presiding over the event: Royal PGF chairman Princess Caroline of Hanover, and the Gala chair Bonnie Pfeifer Evans, whose husband, Charles Evans, is a Platinum Sponsor of the PGA through his eponymous foundation. But the stars of the evening were from Hollywood, not Monaco. Denzel and Pauletta Washington received the night’s flagship award, which is named for the late Prince Rainier III.

The other major award was presented to stage director Anna Shapiro of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

View the gallery at Getty

The Vice-Chair of the PGA, Princess Caroline’s brother, the sovereign Prince Albert II, was absent from the proceedings, as was sister Princess Stephanie, herself an Honorary Trustee, and fiancee Charlene Wittstock, who is expected to make her first appearance on Monaco National Day next week.

Prince Albert had to play host to the likes of Rupert Murdoch’s son, James Murdoch, at the opening of the Monaco Media Forum. The opening of the forum was on the same day as the Princess Grace Awards, but the forum continues for two days through Friday, the 12th November.